


Annie Sugden

by SugdenLovesDingle



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Based on spoilers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Soft Husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25805443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Aaron comforts Robert when he gets some bad news about his gran
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Comments: 5
Kudos: 61





	Annie Sugden

**Author's Note:**

> based on spoilers for... some point in the next few weeks where Vic finds out Annie has died. I wanted some Aaron being there for Robert when he finds out.

“Rob… just take it easy the rest of the day.” Aaron leaned down and wrapped his arms around Robert’s neck, pressing kisses anywhere he could reach, counting it as a win when Robert moved his head to give him better access. “These accounts can wait until tomorrow.”

Robert sighed and tried his best to ignore Aaron’s attack on his senses. He’d installed himself with his laptop in their garden, so he could enjoy the weather and get some work done, but he hadn’t counted on Aaron being home too. And nobody else beside them.

“I should really get this done…”

“Hmm… But does it have to get done today?” Aaron asked, hands moving to Robert’s chest to undo the buttons on his shirt. “Jimmy is away, he won’t notice if you take the afternoon to relax.”

“I know… but… I… promised this client I would get them the contracts with the new numbers by the end of the week.”

“The end of the week is still days away.” Aaron reasoned, enjoying the feeling of Robert’s bare chest under his hands. “And right now… the kids are with Sam and Lydia, Cain and the boys are with Moira, Liv had plans with Gabby… So it’s just you and me… and our big empty house…”

“Aaron…” Robert groaned as Aaron’s treacherous hands started to undo his belt.

“What?” Aaron asked innocently, making Robert lean back in his chair and pulling him into an awkward, half upside down kiss.

“I hate you.” Robert replied and pulled Aaron into his lap so he could kiss him properly. 

“No you don’t.” Aaron grinned.

“No I don’t.” Robert agreed and decided kissing Aaron was a much better use of his time than talking.

Only just as things were getting interesting, Robert’s phone rang.

“Robert I swear to god if you answer that I’m divorcing you.”

“What if it’s important?”

“They’ll leave a message.”

“What if there’s something wrong with the kids?”

“There won’t be. And this whole village is filled with family, they’ll sort it.” Aaron insisted. “We’re kind of busy here, aren’t we?”

Robert’s phone stopped ringing.

“See? Problem solved.” Aaron said and leaned down to kiss Robert again.

Only he could tell Robert’s mind wasn’t in the game anymore and when his phone rang again Aaron groaned and dropped his head on his husband’s shoulder. Next time he was turning the damn thing off right away.

“I’ll just get rid of them quickly, ok? And then we can take this upstairs, this chair is digging into my back anyway.”

Aaron sighed as he got off of Robert’s lap and plopped down in one of the other chairs. Never marry a workaholic.

“It’s a Spanish number.” Robert frowned at the screen. “¿Hola?”

“Si soy Robert Sugden.”

Aaron gave his husband a questioning look. He knew Robert spoke Spanish, but couldn’t imagine who would be calling him that required him to.

“Si Annie Sugden es mi abuela.” Robert started pacing around the garden.

The look on Robert’s face told Aaron that whatever the person on the other end was saying, wasn’t good news.

“What? When?”

The sudden switch to English made Aaron sit up. He tried to get Robert’s attention to figure out what was going on but the other man didn’t seem to see anything.

“Right. Ok. Yes. I will. Can I call you back?” Robert grabbed a pen and wrote down some numbers on the back of one of the papers strewn across the table. “Ok. Yes. Thank you. I will let you know. Bye.” He dropped his phone on the table and ran a hand through his hair.

“Everything ok?” Aaron asked.

“Yes. No. NO. I have to talk to Vic…”

“What’s going on? Is there something wrong with your gran?”

“I… no… she uh… she died.” Robert said softly. “That was the police. Her friend found her this morning…”

“What happened? Was she ill?”

“No… I don’t think so. The officer said her friend found her in bed… so she most likely passed away in her sleep.”

“I’m sorry.” Aaron pulled Robert into a hug. ”I know how much she meant to you…”

Robert nodded but didn’t say anything. Content to just let Aaron hold him and numb the pain a little.

“So what happens now?” Aaron asked after a few minutes. “When is the funeral?”

“I… I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to take care of that… I told the police I would… We’re her only family. I have to tell Vic.”

“Hey, hey, slow down. You can take a few hours to yourself, you know.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not in the mood anymore.” Robert said, suddenly aware he was half naked.

“I don’t mean that, you idiot.” Aaron rolled his eyes and helped him do up his shirt buttons when he noticed Robert’s hands were shaking. “You just got some shocking news, you’re allowed to focus on yourself for a bit.”

Robert shook his head.

“I’m fine. I have to tell Vic and then start sorting things out and call that police officer back… and book flights and let Jimmy know I have to go to Spain and -”

“WE are going to Spain.” Aaron insisted. “I’m not letting you go on your own.”

“I can’t ask you that… You have the scrapyard and your mum’s on her own with Eve…”

Aaron shrugged.

“My mum is fine, there are plenty of people to help out with Eve. And Vinny can practically run the scrapyard on his own. And last time I checked they had phones and internet in Spain…”

“But what about the kids?”

“We can take them with us. Seb will see it as a holiday and Rosie… well she’ll be fine. People travel with babies all the time.”

“A funeral is no place for a baby…”

“Then we’ll ask Sam and Lydia if they mind taking them while we sort things out in Spain.”

Robert sat down in one of the garden chairs. 

“I don’t even know where to start… I don’t know what she would want… she never talked about it. She was always… almost invincible… She always got back on her feet.”

“Yeah? Tell me what she’s like then. I wish I could have met her.”

“Yeah… me too. I told her about you. And Seb. Last year when Vic and I went away, we stopped at hers for a few days and I showed her some pictures of you on my phone. And that video Liv made of the wedding.”

“Yeah? Did she approve of me?” Aaron asked jokingly.

Robert smiled.

“She did. She was happy for me that I finally found someone who could keep up with me.” he paused for a moment. “I never actually told her I’m bi. I just… showed her pictures of my husband and son and all she said is that she was happy I was happy.”

“You never told her about me before that? I thought you’d invited her to the wedding.”

“I did. She knew about you from Diane i think… but I’d… well… I’d been a terrible grandson and didn’t really stay in touch as much as I should have.”

“You’ve been through a lot the past few years…” Aaron said, determined to make Robert stop blaming himself for everything. “I’m sure she understood…”

“I wanted to introduce you to her ever since we got back last year. Take Seb too… make it a little holiday. But then there was the court case and the complications with Natalie’s pregnancy… and it just never seemed like a good time.” Robert told him “I got some email newsletter the other day… cheap flights to Spain. I wanted to talk to you about taking the kids to see my gran but it slipped my mind again.”

“That’s ok. These things happen.” Aaron said and moved his chair closer to Robert’s so he could wrap his arms around him. “You lived with her for a while didn’t you?”

Robert nodded.

“As a kid. And again after my dad kicked me out. I didn’t know where to go so I just kept driving until I ended up on her doorstep. She wanted to ring my dad and have a go at him but I told her not to.”

“Why not?”

“I was afraid he’d tell her everything that had happened… and that she’d kick me out too.”

Aaron’s heart broke thinking about how scared and lonely Robert must’ve been back then and just squeezed his husband a little tighter.

“But I don’t think I ever gave her enough credit.” Robert continued. “She didn’t even blink when I told her about you. Just considered you another grandchild.” He laughed to himself a little. “She made me show our wedding picture to her neighbour one day, the one of us with Seb. It turned into this grandmother showdown with both of them pulling out pictures of their grand kids.”

“Well our son is really cute.” Aaron laughed. “It’s a shame she never met Rosie.”

“I sent her a card when she was born. I designed it online… with a picture of her on the front and the one with Seb holding her in hospital on the inside.”

“You did? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Robert shrugged.

“I don’t know. We’d decided not to go all out with birth announcements and stuff…”

“One card is hardly going all out.”

“I know… I just felt… a bit… silly… I suppose.”

“It’s not silly to want to share the two most amazing kids in the world with your family.” Aaron said, trying to cheer Robert up. “But from now on, we do everything together alright? You told me once that I wasn’t on my own anymore because we’re together… that goes for you too. We’re a team. You and me.”

Robert smiled and kissed Aaron.

“Can you help me tell Vic?”

“Of course. And then we’ll sort what needs to be sorted, let everyone that wants to help us do so, and we’ll give your gran the send off she deserves.” Aaron promised.

“You’re amazing.”

“I try.”


End file.
